Inui vs Eiji and Echizen's Decision

Well, I got my guess wrong again. Eiji missed winning because Inui was luckier that the ball "flew" over to Eiji's court even though Inui was "half-blind" when his spectacles cracked. Anyway, that's not really important since they seemed to enjoy the match that the outcome doesn't matter. Besides, I think this match is really interesting just like the Kaidou vs Momo, Taka-san vs Oishi match.

In this week's 1-hour special, what got me quite upset was the fact that Echizen was really unconvincing when telling the rest that he planned to give up the US Open. Everyone could see that he was still in doubt over this decision with the exception of Momo and Eiji who were elated to hear that he was staying with the team. Tezuka knows that Echizen is still in doubt so he doesn't take Echizen's words as final yet. Well, by seeing the teaser for next week, I can see that I'm going to dislike (well, not to the extent of real dislike but rather "mukatsuku" - frustrated, irritated) Echizen even more because he doesn't seem to be serious about playing Momo next week. Maybe things would become clearer next week about where he wants to go. OK, I know he's still a kid but being so wishy-washy and trying to agonize over this is just not Echizen's style.

Frankly speaking, I'm sort of resigned to the fact that Echizen would be most probably heading to the US. In the OP, there's a match between Tezuka and Echizen somewhere at a court not in school (Haruno-dai where they had their first match?) so I'm guessing Echizen has asked Tezuka for a match before he leaves.

So I'm just hoping that they can finally get Echizen's decision out of the way and show me the ultimate match between the No.1 and No.2 of Seigaku i.e. Tezuka vs Fuji ASAP. How long are they going to drag this?? And since it's such a mouth watering match, will they show Hyoutei and Rikkaidai coming to watch this match?? That means Atobe, Sanada and gang would all be showing up?? Including Yukimura? It just makes me very excited at the thought of it.

Momo vs Kaidou

Well, my guess was wrong since Momo won the match. If Kaidou managed to get the return shot for Super Great Momoshiro Special aka Super Dunk into the court, things might have changed. Still, it was a close and exciting match between the two of them. Now, there's a 1-hr special next week which should go into great details on Ryoma's decision of whether to go for the US Open. Judging from the look of things, I guess he might go after all and that the series might not end despite speculations. This is because Tenipuri is essentially about Ryoma (Tennis no Oujisama) so the anime might shift the focus from Seigaku to just Ryoma in the US Open. That would be rather disastrous in my opinion since the whole appeal of the series is about the Seigaku team (at least to me) and their struggles to win each match against the strong rival schools like Hyoutei and Rikkaidai. Thus, if they just focus on Ryoma alone, I'm not sure how the ratings would fare. I for one would probably not enjoy it as much as seeing Ryoma alone. Just give me my Genichirou, Atobe, Tezuka etc anytime and I'll continue being a faithful viewer...

Next week's match would be between Eiji and Inui. It's an interesting combination. Although Inui might look tougher on paper since he knows each player's strengths and weaknesses well, Eiji has improved since the Kantou Senbatsu Camp days so he might just sneak in a tight victory over Inui. Besides, the ranking matches so far seems to be going against expectations e.g. Taka-san winning over Oishi for the first time and Kaidou looking stronger towards the end but he missed victory just by that one shot. If the story follows this trend, Eiji might win the match. What's more mouth-watering is the fact that the BIG BIG BIG match of this arc is coming up after that i.e. Tezuka vs Fuji. I can expect that this would be super exciting and I'm putting my money on Tezuka to win. Although I do believe that Fuji is strong, unless he goes all out in the match, he would not have a chance of winning. Besides, Tezuka would be trying to show his strength as it is the first serious match after he recovered. There is some talk of a 4th counter besides Higuma Otoshi, Tsubame Gaeshi, Hakugei. Who knows what Fuji might come up with? Tanoshimi desu ne!

Doubts about Tenipuri's future...

Read from some online forums that Tenipuri is coming to an end with 176 episodes?!!!Actually, judging from the fact that Nanjiro received a letter from some unknown person on an invitation for Ryoma to take part in the US Open, this seems to warn the viewers that Ryoma would most probably be leaving Seigaku anytime soon. I really don't want to see Tenipuri end at such a stage because there are many other characters who have yet to be fully developed like Yukimura, Tachibana. And personally, I still want to see Sanada, Atobe etc taking on Tezuka. The current school ranking matches would pitch some interesting combinations like Momo vs Kaidou and of course, Fuji vs Tezuka but if they were to end it like that without giving us the chance to see a full force Rikkaidai take on Seigaku or even Hyotei against Seigaku or Rikkaidai, I don't think I would be able to accept it. And it really doesn't make sense to end it at this stage since the endorsements and merchandise should be a lucrative business for TV Tokyo, Konomi-sensei and all the stakeholders in the Tenipuri franchise. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for Yukimura or Sanada against Tezuka or Atobe. The new OP is very good but the attention is all on Ryoma again. However, among all the OPs, I still like "Long Way" the best which has got cool footage of all the Seigaku guys. The ending song doesn't sound so nice though. Next week would be Momo and Kaidou's match...I have a feeling that Kaidou might win this and if Ryoma really goes to US, Momo should be able to make it to the regulars even IF he does lose to Kaidou.

Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!

Well, it's a new year and I'm working. Not something very desirable though and I'm still recovering from flu. The cold weather is really getting to me since I have a rather sensitive respiratory system. Anyway, it's been so long since I posted again so I decided to get moving and stop procastinating.

Good news and stuff to anticipate for 2005 so far:

1) Tenipuri SP DVD to be released in Feb! Lots of Rikkai action and I can't wait to see Sanada!!! OK, I did see him in Ep 165 but they kept poking fun of him and Yukimura. I want to see Sanada in normal mode not in the chibi character mode though.

2) Tezuka is finally back! Now that they announced his comeback in Ep 164 and the ranking matches are going to start on 12 Jan, someone in Seigaku would have to be dropped again since there are only 8 places for 9 people. I can't imagine who would be dropped since the Golden Pair is needed for Nationals so Oishi and Eiji are quite safe. Echizen, for one would definitely be in since he's the lead. And Tezuka has been out of action for so long, if they leave him out, the fans would make noise. I for one would not be able to accept if Buccho is left out. Fuji, being the tensai and No.2 in the team would be in, Inui is also pretty much confirmed unless he decides to be the data-man again which is highly unlikely so that leaves only Taka-san, Momo and Kaidou. I don't want to see anyone of them dropped but circumstances would definitely rule one of them out. I just hope Konomi-sensei would not spring a major surprise on us for this.

3) Tenipuri movie to be shown in 2005! Since it's going on roadshow during these two months, chances are that the DVD would be released about 6 months later. That's so long and I guess it would be until summer before I can get my hands on it. In the meantime, I'm still wondering whether I should get the movie singles in early Feb regardless of whether the songs sound good or not. It's just for collection's sake.

And to round up, my New Year resolution is to work harder and complete my collection of the DVDs hopefully within the year! ^__^